Good Samaritan’s Condition ‘Stable’ as His Neighbors Raise Funds

While the man police call a good Samaritan lay in a hospital bed fighting for his life Thursday, his wife described him as someone who often helped people in need without fear for his own safety.

“He just cares about people,” Sandra Smith said of her husband, Gary, a part-time carpet layer and paralegal. “He doesn’t want to see people get hurt.”

Gary Smith was shot four times after he responded to a University City woman’s screams for help by chasing a man who had just burglarized the woman’s home.

Gary Smith was laying carpet in a building next to the woman’s home in the 7900 block of Camino Tranquilo when he heard screams and confronted a gun-wielding man about a block away, police said.

Doctors at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla operated on Gary Smith several times Thursday, treating bullet wounds in his face, stomach, left leg and left arm, hospital officials said.

“He is in stable condition,” hospital spokeswoman Dilene Pulsipher said late Thursday afternoon after one of the operations.

Smith’s encounter with the burglar wasn’t his first attempt at helping a crime victim, his wife told reporters. Last Sunday, the 35-year-old San Diegan, who aspires to become a corporate lawyer, unsuccessfully gave chase to a purse snatcher, she said.

Gary Smith never stopped to think that he might get hurt while aiding others, his wife said. Now others in the community are taking steps to help him.

Members of the San Diego Police Officers Assn. announced Thursday that they will donate blood to Smith.

“It’s an emotional issue for us, too,” said police Officer Robert Chorny, who attended a press conference with Sandra Smith at the hospital. “We’ve basically dubbed this guy ‘the good Samaritan.’ ”

Residents of the neighborhood where the shooting occurred are raising funds for Smith’s medical expenses.

“They are going to make a private donation,” Pulsipher said. “They wanted to do it away from the media.”

Hospital officials requested that anyone wishing to donate money to the Smiths write to: Foundation for Gary Smith, Scripps Memorial Hospital, P.O. Box 28, La Jolla, CA, 92038.

Meanwhile, police are still looking for a suspect in the case. Chorny said investigators have several leads, including a report that someone had tried to use one of the credit cards stolen during the burglary.

Witnesses described the assailant as a young white man, about 5-foot-9 and 140 pounds, with a light complexion and long, thin, brown hair. The man, described as clean-shaven but with an unkempt appearance, was last seen wearing a gray or blue Windbreaker and a pair of old jeans.